Oct 31, 2009

Have I mentioned I'm kinda old school? Back when I got hooked on paintball Automags and Autocockers ruled the paintball world. Autocockers were always a mystery to me. Everything I know about them I pretty much learned by mistake. I've always considered them cantankerous and ornery but I always had a few hanging on the pro-shop wall and in pieces on my work bench just on the off chance Bud Orr paid a visit (yeah, right!!).

Oct 29, 2009

I have a very strict twenty foot rule. No bunkering. No bunker or barrel tags. No forced/automatic surrender rule. Just stay twenty feet back. This often leads to a player yelling in frustration, "How am I suppose to hit him?" - this coming from a player hunkered down in his bunker twenty feet from his opponent who is hunkered down opposite him.

It's a good opportunity for a quick lesson in team work. "Get your team mates to flank him and flush him out," I yell back. But it seldom sinks in. The frustrated player spends the next few minutes pounding paint against a tree or spool or brush pile while giving me dirty looks every five or six shots.

"Stupid rule. You probably do this so we will shoot more paint," they will further complain as if I'm the one reaching out with some invisible force to pull their trigger. Some players just don't want to be protected. To heck with them. It's the other players I care about . I'm protecting them from some players.

Oct 28, 2009

Kingman Group has posted the first round of Spyder .50 Caliber paintball products to their website at www.spyder50.com. The initial products released under Spyder .50 Cal. will consist of a Mil-Sim Rifle & Pistol, Competition Electronic & Semi-Auto Markers, a lightweight Goggle, Electronic Loader and Spyder .50 Caliber paintballs. This unique Spyder .50 Cal. brand will feature a full line of paintball products that are operational on .50 Caliber size paintballs.

Oct 27, 2009

I don't like working on Autocockers. No, wait. Let me be honest. I hate working on Autocockers. I think I might be the only tech within 200 miles that still messes with them. My favorite personal marker is an Autococker. I like tinkering with it. But I don't have the patience anymore to work on an unknown marker.

Oct 26, 2009

To continue with my series on The Girls of Paintball I scored a great interview with Benedicte Rønneberg, Captain of the all girl team, "Poison Ivy." Benedicte and her crew just returned to Norway after competing in The World Cup in Florida and was gracious enough to take time out from her busy schedule.

How did you all get started in paintball and how did you get together as a team?

August 2005 my brother asked me if I had some friends who wanted to help out at a tournament in Norway. We needed some extra cash and was more then willing to help out.

At the end of the weekend some of us were asked if we could step in on a team in 3rd division (which was the lowest division on this tournament) and my brother convinced us to do it. My brother had been playing for some time and was always nagging on me to try. After we played, Kim from SniperPaintball came over to us and asked all of us if we wanted to start a girl team. And we did, and here we are!

We started out with 11 girls practicing 3-4 times a week! Some girls fell off, maybe because they didn’t fall in love with the game like we did. We are four girls left from that original group (Silje, Linn, Pia and myself), during these four years we have had some other girls on the team that have either quit or gone to other teams. The youngest on Poison Ivy, Marit is the little sister of a friend of ours and Marie started playing for us at the Malaga event in 2009. And we will have some new girl’s on the team for the next season.

What's the best part about playing for Poison Ivy?

Well there is so much! But I love the fact that we have so much fun, no matter where we are in the world!

Do you have a home field? Tell us about it.

Our home field is at SniperPaintball. Both inside and outside. During the winter there is soooo much snow in Norway so we have to practice inside with reball. And in the summer we have this great place 45 min from where we live. It’s really great to have the possibility to practice all year. And SniperPaintball really helps us out with everything!

Where are some of the other places you and the team have played?

We play the Millennium Series in Europe so we have been around, England, France, Germany, Spain. And we play in different parts of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. This year we went to World Cup in Orlando, which was great! So we are really hoping to go back there next year.

Is there anything you might want to say to young women thinking about playing paintball?

Do it!! Yes, it hurts sometimes, but that’s nothing compared to how much fun it is! And a big plus is that we only play against boy’s/men and that is a good enough reason for me! Hehe..

I asked the last person I interviewed, "What should I ask the next person I interview?" Taylor Cormier asks, "You should ask your next interview victim if, when they got their start playing, if they were socially accepted, and/or supported by their friends and families. And if that effected playing progress."

Well, for Taylor’s question;

When we started playing we didn’t get a lot of support, not from our friends or families. I don’t think they believed us. They didn’t think that this was something that would last. I believe most of our friends thought it was a joke. My parents didn’t approve of it and they still don’t like that I play paintball. But I think that made us want it even more! And we practiced almost every day of the week to begin with. We wanted to prove to everyone that we could do this and that Poison Ivy was here to stay.

We got a lot of support from different people within the paintball community. And we had some great trainers, Christopher and Lars who have played for Drammen Solid and Oslo Menace and one amazing guy that really got us started with this, Mads. We love you! Thank you for making Poison Ivy possible.

What would you like me to ask the next person I interview?

I would like to ask this person, assuming this is a girl, what they feel is the biggest challenge about being a girl team in paintball, and how they deal with it ?

Thank you, Benedicte. And hey, everyone needs to stop by Poison Ivy's Facebook page and check out the pictures of some of the great places this team has been.

*Eighteenth Law of Paintball

I'd rather see a THOUSAND LOUSY players with GOOD attitudes,
than see ONE GOOD player with a LOUSY attitude.

Oct 24, 2009

i do need a vacation. i've been a bit short tempered lately. with success comes more - more good, more bad, more stress, more fun.

let me tell you what makes me mean and grumpy.

i won't sell crap in my pro-shop. there is enough inferior, not worth the price of the plastic, paintball junk out there already. i sell equipment that i spend money and time on testing. when someone comes in my shop cussing at a marker i sold them that has been abused, misused, trashed out with cheap paint or doesn't work because "their friend lost some parts" i get mean and grumpy.

people getting ripped off on the internet (EBay!!!) makes me mean and grumpy. the dilemma... do i get mean and grumpy with the person who let themselves get ripped off or do i get mean and grumpy with the faceless seller behind the computer screen? usually i get mean and grumpy with myself (and take it out on my daughter behind the counter). i blame myself for not being able to convince everyone that "the buyer should beware"!

Oct 23, 2009

With Halloween just a weekend away it's important to note that paintball is not a good way to prank your neighbors and friends. I know I'm preaching to the choir. Or at least I hope I am. No one that takes paintball as seriously as we do would ever consider a paintball drive by or replacing the traditional egg toss with a paintball shooting.

It's going to happen. There is no way we can stop it. Whether you choose to turn a blind eye or call the cops is up to you. I for one have a standing policy in my local area. I offer a cash reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone out to give our sport a bad name.

Oct 22, 2009

I have a few friends over on Facebook on the "I Have a Paintball Profile Pic" group page. I've invited them over here to vote on their favorite profile picture. Jump in and join them. It will be a regular Thursday thing.

It's hell getting old. I enjoy walking the woodsball fields for inspiration. It's fun and easy to imagine a new bunker over here or a new fort over there. It's also a good time to look for repairs. The problem? Every time I get out there I find that I have forgotten to bring something to write on. When I get back to the shop I have totally forgotten all the great ideas and reminders. Blame it on my feeble mind. Blame it on my A.D.D. I tacked a clipboard on the wall right in front of my desk. I'm going to remember to take it with me. But first I have to find my pen and glasses.

Oct 20, 2009

Had a marker come in the other day. It was not re-cocking. Typically this means it needs to be cleaned. This one REALLY needed cleaning..

It doesn't show real clear in the picture but the slime and discoloration is old paint. It had the consistency of molasses and had everything glued together. After prying the body apart I had to pry the connecting rod out and pull the front bolt off the power tube.

Oct 19, 2009

Later today we are officially releasing some exciting news about an Electro-Pneumatic Marker from Tippmann with a new spool valve design. We are officially launching this marker on Wednesday, October 2 at 1 pm CST.

It use to bug me when tanks came in to be filled and were covered in camo tape. Now it just annoys me. Don't cover the inspection date. It's no big deal if you cover the rest of your tank - as long as you're not hiding some major flaw. I don't care for filling bombs.

Oct 15, 2009

Ok, so I have a few friends over on Facebook on the "I Have a Paintball Profile Pic" group page. I've invited them over here to vote on their favorite profile picture. Jump in and join them. It will be a regular Thursday thing.

There is something that (excuse me) pisses me off about this 50 cal talk. All the so called experts are pushing how 50 cal doesn't hurt "as much." Where the heck were these people during the rate of fire war? They sure didn't have much to say about pounding players, new and experienced alike, with 8, 15 and toward the end of the war nearly 25 balls per second. Since paint was being sold by the tractor trailer load the industry didn't dare speak up about the real and potential rate of fire injuries.

Oct 14, 2009

New doodads and innovations have been a corner stone of paintball's growth even before the first person replaced his stick feeder with a 35mm film canister . While applauding most of the genius behind the growth I have to scratch my head every now and then and wonder, why? There are some things that just seem silly. Some things are just, "No way!?"

Oct 13, 2009

I received a sales flyer today. Seven pages of paintball clothing. I'm curious about who buys this stuff. Seven different jersey designs. Four different pants designs. The gloves are nice - those knuckle shots hurt - prices ranging from $13.97 to $27.97. But T-shirts? Hats? Hoodies? I've never been one to wear branded clothing. I can hear my mean and grumpy Dad in my head. "They don't pay me to walk around advertising their stuff!"

Oct 12, 2009

From GI Milsim (Smart Parts) The GI NANO50 is the smallest and lightest tournament marker available. The NANO50 is a spool valve marker with unsurpassed firing rate and accuracy, while both quiet and soft on paint. Hoseless grip integrated streamlined design helps shave ounces off the weight.

A while ago I started a series of blog interviews aimed at bringing more females into the great sport of paintball. I haven't done one in awhile but I'm sure you will agree, this one makes up for the long wait. Meet Taylor Cormier - a 21 year old sports medicine student from North Reading Massachusetts, and a paintball player.

Oct 11, 2009

I don't like to be wrong. It's hard to keep up with everything. I told a player on the phone that I didn't think the new (Tippmann) U.S. Army Salvo was available yet. I'm not sure if he reads this blog. I don't have them in stock but they are available here - U.S. Army Salvo.
Read more...

Oct 10, 2009

Imagine that big buck, your rifle drawn, a perfect site picture looking down fixed sites or a close up, cross-haired view through a high powered scope. Breath control...squeeze, don't yank the trigger, careful...

To continue with my series on The Girls of Paintball I scored a great interview with Benedicte Rønneberg, Captain of the all girl team, &quo...

From around the net...

OH NO, you didn't just say THAT!

"A billion-dollar company tried to steal my identity, and I was able to fight and regain my identity. That's why I'm on cloud nine; I fought the giant and I'm a success story against Activision." (Greg Hastings)

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Yakity yak.... 3 shot rulz... take 3 shots at my field and take a break. what's the hurry? who ya tryin to impress? this aint no freak show! why waste paint? can't hit em with three? throw three more. can't hit em with them? go fishin~ (me, on Facebook)

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Yes, I know Steve Davidson found the property that was the site of the first ever paintball game. No, I don't care. (Dale from the Ford Report)

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"How is paintball like golf? Golf is played outdoors on nice, well kept grass or, if something goes horribly wrong, off in the woods. Same with paintball." (Baca Loco)